How often have you learned of a terrible injustice, but felt unable to do anything about it?
Have you wanted to help bring about change in our world, but believed it was too difficult and too big for you to tackle?
Do you wonder where the leaders are- why so many people are suffering, yet no one is leading the way toward effective solutions?
Have you said to yourself, “I feel strongly about the genocide in Darfur, (or about human trafficking, global warming, torture, and other human rights violations) but what can I do about it?”
Now, there is a channel for your caring, your passion, your desire to make a positive difference in our world. Imagine the power of a citizens’ lobby- people throughout the nation who, together achieve specific, effective, human changes in public policy.
- Unprecedented official sanctioning of kidnapping, disappearances, and torture by the US.
- The suffering that has resulted, and will result in the future, because of climate change.
- Slavery, including human trafficking (sex slavery) and labor slavery.
- Genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and now Darfur.
The US’ failure to respond has been tragic, but it hasn’t been because people don’t care. People do care. The US, as a vital leader in the international community, has failed to act because of a cycle of complacency that works like this:
- The media remains mostly silent about human suffering around the world
- Caring people, who do not hear or see much in the media about human rights atrocities and who believe that their elected representatives will act effectively to solve the problems, do not speak up or act to bring pressure upon government officials to take action.
- Elected officials conclude from the public’s silence and the lack of media coverage that nothing is expected of them in dealing with the problems, so they take no action.
- The tragedies continue- while the US and the international community look the other way.
High Road for Human Rights was founded to break the tragic cycle of complacency that occurs when ordinary people, after learning of human rights abuses, don’t know what they can do to help. The news media fails to adequately cover the issues, and elected officials perceive from the silence that no action is expected of them. High Road seeks to elevate, on a nation-wide basis, citizens’ understanding of human rights abuses and to organize them so they will be empowered to help make a difference. HRHR provides the missing grassroots mass mobilization of people educated and motivated to advocate effectively for change in US human rights policy.
By taking the High Road, you can join in a mass movement to make certain effective action is taken to protect the human rights of people around the world.
